Arm for lateral arm awnings



July 14, 1931. F. A. ANTON ARM FOR LATERAL ARM AWNINGS F i1ed Aug. 18, 1930 Bmaentor Z. A. A 71 Gttorneg Patented July 14, 1931 rmimamcx A. ANTON, or

ARM. 1.03 LATERAL ABM, alwumes This invention relates to lateral arm awnings-and has for itsgeneral object-to produce an improved. armconstruction particularly in, adapted for wide awningswhereby'such awnl' ingswhen folded, shall'occupy a relatively smaller vertical area across the front of abuilding. In modernstore front construe tion architects are striving more-and moreto reduce exteriorimpedimenta, such asawnm' ings, unless: they'can be folded to a small area and be thus relatively inconspicuous, and one method of accomplishing lZllIS re-- sulthas-been toreduce theheightor width of the transom bar or awning boxing of windew-openings, and to demand that, when the awning is folded,vit' shallnot occupy a vertical space greater than the width of the transom bar or boxings built-'toreceive the- .folded'awningj v No particular difliculty has "been en countered in constructing; narrow -awnings, such as, for example, a=s1x foot awningwlnch may be readily folded within-the modern,

1 narrow transom'bar, but with graduallyin ,clteasingwidth ofsidewalk, it has become more and more desirable that the awning,

shall increas'e-in width to maintain'the architectural harmony of the whole.

In an endeavor to meetthe'trend'of-the de* "mand, it has been found thatthe awning width must, on the whole, be increased andat the same time the construction must be such, that when the awning is folded; its

.vertical height must not exceed, or material ly exceed, the vertical height or width ofthesmaller or'six foot awning.

Originally and before the architectural demand for a narrow transom bar was in,

' -vogue, there was no particular difiic-ulty in meeting these demands, as it was merely necessary tO'IDfI'GaSG the width of the material in the arms by using: wider,. and some- Application flied Augustin, 191m; 1 s rial in, 476,052:

but" which, when folded, willoccupya verticalsp'ace oflimite'd area. 1 VWith the general object'named inview, and others as will hereinafter appear; referenceist'o behadto the accompanying draw I8 ings, inwhich: V

Figure 1- is aside view of an} awning arm" embodyingthe invention. I

F igure-2 is atop plan view of the'same: Figure 3 is an enlarged detail to more clearlyillustrate a part of the awning: arm construction Figure 4 is an enlarged view of the opposite side of theupper a'rmfrom-that shown in 1. I Figure 5 is an enlarged end view of" the upper arm to illustrate theinclined relation ship between the upper and lower bars'of such arm. e f In the" saiddra wings, where like" refer ence characters identify, corresponding parts iiiall'of the figures, 1 indicates asupporting, bracket and 2 the roller'onwhich the awning fabric 3" is woundi Thebracket and" roller are securedto the transom bar of 'thewindow in anysuitable manner, not shown, Pivote'd:

tothe bracket-'1' on-a'bolt' i, having its upper 7 end inclinedoutwardly from the vertical, is theupper-bmcket 5 ofan upper awning arm, 7 said bracket'being-providedwith a recess for" the reception of an edgewise or substantially perpendicularbart havingits lower endreceived within a recess in a lower bracket 7 Theupper and lower brackets 5 and 7 are. provided'with additional recessesfor the receptionof'the'opposite ends of a horizontally arranged bar 8, which is bowed or sprung upwardly by means of a: brace 9 embracing, the upper. and lower bars 6 and 8. 'Pivotally secured to the end of the lower bracket member 7' is a second or outer awning arm710 which is pivotally secured'to the'cross bar 11 carrying the free. end of the awning fabric 3.

It will. be noted that, the'up'per arm 6 is inclined downw-ardly at a considerable angle, this relationship of parts being necessary so that the awning fabric 3, shall not contact with thear'msin the-folding and unfolding movements of the awning:

Ih awnings of this character meansmust movement of the awning. The relationship of the parts is essential if it is desired to have an awning which will not lock in closed position and may only be remedied by those awning arms not thus constructed, by providing a stop of some character to prevent the awning arm from being completely folded. This method of construction is objectionable as if the awning arm is not completely folded, it is obvious that it occupies a greater vertical plane when in collapsed position and is also more subject to vibration and injury by the wind.

WVith an upper awning arm of the character disclosed in this application, particularly when the planes of the upper and lower bars of the upper arm is inclined from the vertical as above described, the load imposed by the awning bar 11 is very great and there is a tendency to twist the upper and lower bars 6 and 8 on an axis substantially halfway between the centers of the two bars. With previous constructions, as far as applicant is aware, this difliculty has been, to some extent, obviated by making the upper awning bracket of greater height than the lower.

awning bracket, so that the upper end of the upper bar was a greater distance from the lower bar than its lower end, the upper bar, because of its better leverage, thus resisting the load imposed on the lower or outer end of the upper arm, but no means was found to overcome the twisting action hereinabove alluded to.

Applicant has found, however, that the load and the twisting strain can be overcome without increasing the height of the upper bracket as compared with the lower bracket and the weight of the upper bar materially reduced, by placing the upper bar with its greatest width extending relatively horizontal and then placing the same under tension by bowing it with the brace connection 9.

With this construction the perpendicular bar 6 takes care of the bending strain or load and the horizontal bar 8 because of the tension placed on it by its bridging relationship, will resist the twisting strain. With this construction, also, when the twisting strain occurs, greater resistance against twisting will be oifered because the two bars will not twist in unison or around a center. The perpendicular bar 6 when tw sting wlll tend to force the horizontal bar 8 to abandon a straight linev in one direction and in order to do this will itself tend to bend, but inasmuch as the latter is strong enough to resist bending and the horizontal bar 8 is also strong enough to resist bending, it will be very nearly impossible to force this combination of bars to twist.

From the above description it will be apparent that I have produced an awning embodying the improvement set forth as desirable in the statement of the object of the invention, and which may be readily modified in various details within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The combination in a lateral arm awning, comprising an upper hinge bracket adapted to be secured to a building, an arm secured to said hinge bracket and extending downwardly and outwardly and being later ally inclined from the vertical and conse quently under strain tending to rotate same on its longitudinal axis and to simultaneously move its outer end downwardly, a second hinge bracket carried by the outer end of said arm, and a bridge between said hinge members to reinforce said arm against clownward and twisting strain.

2. An arm for lateral arm awnings, comprising a bar having its greatest width arranged substantially vertically, a pivot bracket secured to each end of said arm, and a second bar secured to said brackets and bowed away from said first-named bar.

3. An arm for lateral arm awnings comprising a bar having its greatest width arranged substantially vertically, a pivot bracket secured to each end of said arm, a second bar secured to said brackets and bowed away from said first-named bar, and'a connection between said first and second bars to maintain said second bar in bowed relationship to the first-named bar.

4. An awning bracket having a pair of alined bolt-receiving openings and a pair of bar receiving recesses arranged with their corresponding axial planes bearing an inclined relation to the plane of said bolt openings. V

5. The combination in a lateral arm awning of an upper hinge member adapted to be secured to a building, an arm secured to said hinge bracket and extending downwardly and outwardly from the building, said arm comprising a lower edgewise bar and. a horizontal bar bowed away from said edgewise bar, and a connection between said bars for maintaining the bowed bar in fixed relation.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

FREDERICK A. ANTON. 

